THE SIGN OF FOUR (1932)

 

At the beginning of this year I wrote a series of blog posts on a Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray set from The Film Detective. The set featured three of the five films in which British actor Arthur Wontner starred as Holmes. 

One of the Wontner-Holmes films, THE MISSING REMBRANDT, is considered lost. The other one which is not in The Film Detective's set is THE SIGN OF FOUR, made in 1932. It's curious why this movie did not wind up in the aforementioned set, since it is widely available on YouTube (that is where I viewed it). 

THE SIGN OF FOUR is one of my favorite Holmes stories by Conan Doyle. This film version condenses the plot considerably, but it is a quite effective adaptation, even though it is set in contemporary times instead of Victorian London. 

A frightened young woman named Mary Morstan (Isla Bevan) seeks out Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Wontner) over a number of strange messages. Holmes discovers a plot concerning a treasure looted from the Orient years ago, in which Miss Morstan's late father was involved. While Dr. Watson (Ian Hunter) and Mary fall for each other, Holmes uses his mental (and physical) powers to battle the rogues who are after the treasure. 

Of the five films (all made in England) in which Arthur Wontner starred as Holmes, four of them were produced by Twickenham Film Studios. THE SIGN OF FOUR is the outlier--it was made by Associated Radio Pictures. It has a different Watson and Mrs. Hudson than the other Wontner-Holmes movies, and it also has a much better pace to it. THE SIGN OF FOUR is also far more inventive visually than the Twickenham Holmes series, and it has a bit of light humor to it as well. It was directed by British film veteran Graham Cutts, and Rowland V. Lee (who directed SON OF FRANKENSTEIN) is credited as production supervisor. 

Arthur Wontner is remembered for playing a older and sedentary Holmes, but here he wears a hairpiece that makes him look younger, and he even gets to engage in a knock-out brawl during the climax. (Wontner also gets to use a couple of disguises.) Ian Hunter's Watson is more of a leading man type, in order to provide the love interest for Mary Morstan.

THE SIGN OF FOUR is also enlivened by a pair of nasty villains: Graham Soutten as Jonathan Small, and Roy Emerton as his sidekick. Miles Malleson is perfect casting for the role of the quirky Thaddeus Sholto. 

Out of all the movies in which Arthur Wontner played Sherlock Holmes that are available, the 1932 THE SIGN OF FOUR is in my opinion the best. It is the one that really deserves a restoration and a proper home video presentation.